CHICAGO, IL - NOVEMBER 10: Jonathan Bostic #57 of the Chicago Bears awaits the snap against the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field on November 10, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The Lions defeated the Bears 21-19. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jonathan Bostic

Updated: June 7, 2014 2:14AM

It was a minor dispute between two linebackers on a hot day during organized team activities. But it also signaled linebacker Jon Bostic’s newfound comfort level in his second season.
Playing on the weak side with Lance Briggs absent, an animated Bostic pointed at one hole and shouted instructions at middle linebacker D.J. Williams, who emphatically pointed at another gap.
Confusion reigned for a few moments before linebackers coach Reggie Herring stepped in.
The Bears are implementing changes under defensive coordinator Mel Tucker this offseason. Bostic, the 50th overall pick in 2013, thinks they fit his talents much better than the Bears’ old cover-2 scheme.
“I feel a lot more comfortable this year, especially with all the changes to the defense,” Bostic said after OTAs this week at Halas Hall.
“A lot of the changes that we did make, it’s a lot more natural for me.
“I can play how I’ve been taught literally from little league to high school to college to now. It’s back to playing how I used to.
‘‘There were a lot of things that we did last year that worked, but now we changed a couple of those things, and it’s more natural.”
Shea McClellin’s switch from end to linebacker has rightfully received the most attention this offseason, but turning Bostic into a success is just as important.
Bostic started nine games last season after Williams was injured, finishing with 57 tackles, two sacks and an interception.
But he never turned his preseason success in 2013 — highlighted by some big hits that prompted numerous calls for him to be the Week 1 starter in the middle — into impact plays during the regular season.
Concerns about his progress mounted as he overran assigned holes and struggled dropping in coverage.
It also didn’t help that injuries on the defensive line often left him in vulnerable spots.
“It was just a learning process,” Bostic said. “It was just coming in every day. Those times when you do fail, you learn about yourself.
‘‘It was a chance to learn about this defense, how it all works, because I wasn’t in a cover-2 base [defense] in college. We were mainly a cover-1 team. We would play some [cover-3], but we were a man-to-man team, where we felt our athletes were better than yours, so that’s how we played.”
But a new year and new defense are here for him.
Tucker said his changes include combatting running games differently, and Bostic echoed that, saying, changes “mainly with the run fits” feel right to him. It was during a drill going over run assignments that Bostic and Williams debated.
“Those things will be a lot more natural to me, playing inside-out on it [against runs],” said Bostic, who has worked at every linebacker spot during OTAs.
“What I did a lot of at Florida is what we’re back to doing now.”
Florida ran a hybrid defense, and it’s likely that Tucker took into account Bostic’s strengths when contemplating the changes that won over coach Marc Trestman and general manager Phil Emery.
Tucker hinted at it last month, saying, “We’re building on some of [Bostic’s] experience from a year ago that is going to help him moving more.”
Herring said his goal was to get Bostic “to tempo things and not just be fast all the time.”
A starting job in the middle or on the strong side is Bostic’s if everything goes —or fits — right.
“You’re coming out here and you’re competing against linebackers, against the offense,” Bostic said. “That’s what we play the game for.”
Email: ajahns@suntimes.com
Twitter: @adamjahns

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Rookie

Herring said his goal was to get Bostic “to tempo things and not just be fast all the time.”

This was Bostic's biggest problem last season, and IMO Shea struggled with it too. They are both very fast athletic guys who over-pursued a lot last season and ran themselves out of plays. I think having a quality coach like Herring there this season is going to make a big difference for these young LBers. And the fact that Tucker can coach HIS scheme the way HE wants and a way that suits the PLAYERS. Not going along with Lovie's Cover 2 anymore.

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Pro-Bowler

SuperFan

Herring said his goal was to get Bostic “to tempo things and not just be fast all the time.”

This was Bostic's biggest problem last season, and IMO Shea struggled with it too. They are both very fast athletic guys who over-pursued a lot last season and ran themselves out of plays. I think having a quality coach like Herring there this season is going to make a big difference for these young LBers. And the fact that Tucker can coach HIS scheme the way HE wants and a way that suits the PLAYERS. Not going along with Lovie's Cover 2 anymore.

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I hope the defensive coaching changes have a similar impact on Khaseem Green and CornWash as well.

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Veteran

“I can play how I’ve been taught literally from little league to high school to college to now. It’s back to playing how I used to.
‘‘There were a lot of things that we did last year that worked, but now we changed a couple of those things, and it’s more natural.”

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THIS.

I have continued to believe that Bostic has the talent/potential to be a pretty damn good player. By moving the defense in a direction that he is more comfortable with, or that he can read more easily/naturally/intuitively, maybe we can get a player that no longer over-runs plays, or finds his rookie ass out of position. I get that you can't change the scheme for just one guy, but it sounds like several players will benefit from the style of hybrid defense that Mtuck is installing. Combined with a better front four, the LB corps should automatically look 100% better than it did last year, which will in turn put less pressure on the safeties.

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Coordinator

SuperFanDBS Writer

I hope the defensive coaching changes have a similar impact on Khaseem Green and CornWash as well.

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Two draft picks who were both major disappointments last year and bases on that seem to have a long way to go in their maturity as NFL player before they'll make the team again this year. Washington never even saw the field and it was only the injuries at LB that force Greene into service. Man he was bad.

I'm gonna accept that it was just very poor coaching that kept those two from developing. Based on where they were chosen in the draft they were developmental guys who needed a lot of work before they'd be ready to start and my guess is they got very little of that. The staff was preoccupied trying to save a sinking ship.

Given Washington's physical abilities I'd love to see the light come on for him. He could be a monster DE. Greene I'm less sure of. To me he didn't show the toughness that an NFL LB needs and that's often the case with converted DBs. His body may be over sized for a Safety but in his head he was still playing like one.

We need to be scoring with these draft picks especially on defense but IMHO these two are very suspect and it wouldn't shock me at all if one or the other or both didn't make the final cut.

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Coordinator

SuperFanDBS Writer

I'm hoping Reggie Herring can develop both Bostic and McClellin. Finding a way to exploit their talents. Both have the physical abilities to be really disruptive players.

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Yep, this is a must for Herring. Both have far too much talent to let slide. The first thing they need to do is find out what position suits each one of them best. Right now I'd say Bostic should be the guy to eventually replace Briggs at WLB and McClellin seems like a natural to be a SLB and a pass rusher but Bostic has proven that he can blitz too.

We could benefit by having one or the other show the basic talent to play MLB too. McClellin seems better suited for that but he has to be able to cover both from there and as a SLB if he expects to find a starting spot. Emery wants him on the field as much possible so I imagine they'll work hard to figure out how they can do that.

I think both are good enough football players that they'll begin to find their places this year.

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Veteran

I wouldn't call Greene and Washington major disappointments. What was Greene, a fourth rounder? And Washington was a sixth wasn't he? It'd be nice for them to contribute but I sure as hell wouldn't have expected anything out of them year 1. Washington even less than Greene. I've heard differing opinions on Greene, some say he looked decent. Even heard one report that someone thought he outplayed Anderson, and while Anderson isn't an all-star.. if Greene could end up better than him I'd be psyched with the pick. I hope he can be better, but I would have been more surprised if he played very well coming in as emergency relief as a rook. There's a reason he was a fourth rounder.

I'm not saying no worries at all, but I can't use last season as an indicator for a rook linebacker who wasn't supposed to see the field. I don't think Urlacher in his prime would have looked too hot behind that mess of a DL we had, let alone a pair of developmental rookies. More than anything I was surprised Washington didn't find the field at least a little bit more, with the rash of injuries that's more telling to me than Greene's play or Bostic's for that matter. But Bennett didn't see the field as a rookie either, didn't get involved at all and just spent the year learning.. and it's not like we had superb players in front of him at WR. My favorite DL example is Chris Long, one of the best DE's in football and he was a high pick and didn't start producing like expected until 3-4 years after he was drafted. I'll give Corny a pass and see what Paul P thinks and does with him. By the sound of it if someone can turn his raw talent into actual production, its our new DL coach.

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